


Posession

by Kiara_Pyrenei



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Ghost!AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-20
Updated: 2016-01-20
Packaged: 2018-05-15 04:37:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5771593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiara_Pyrenei/pseuds/Kiara_Pyrenei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ling tries to find a place to crash after his car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, and finds more than he bargained for. Like a murder victim with unfinished business who wants to take over his body.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Posession

Ling had been having a good trip. _Had_ being the operative word. Now that his engine had given up, shuddering to a stop thanks to some sort of unknown failure that involved quite a lot of smoke, his trip wasn’t going quite so well.  
  
He got out of the car, sighing as he popped the hood to see what had gone wrong. Smoke billowed out and he coughed, looking to see if there was anything obviously wrong that he might be able to fix. Unfortunately, Ling wasn’t exactly a mechanic, so it all just looked like a car engine to him. A car engine spewing smoke. This was definitely hopeless; he wasn’t going to be able to fix anything on his own. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, glanced at it, and sighed again. No signal. It made sense he supposed, he was in the middle of nowhere.  
  
To be specific, he was somewhere in the desert in Nevada. He had been on his way from his college to California to meet with his parents and a few of his siblings. For business, of course, not family bonding. The Yaos weren’t big on family bonding. He had told them he’d be flying there, but he preferred to take the long way, a nice road trip. It gave him time to mentally prepare for dealing with his family, and he found it relaxing. Or at least, he found it relaxing when his car didn’t break down and he wasn’t stranded in the middle of god knows where.  He wouldn’t exactly call it relaxing this time. Luckily he had a map and some water; he’d been that prepared, at least.  
  
He pulled out the map and sat down on the trunk of his car, looking it over and trying to figure out where he was. It looked like he was still far, far from any major city, but there was a small town of some sort not too far away. That was lucky. Maybe he’d make it there before dark if he started walking now.  
  
Or at least, that was the plan. But after nearly ten hours, he still hadn’t seen anything that looked like civilization. It seemed he had underestimated the distance; The map had made it look so reasonable. He felt like he’d been walking forever. It was the middle of the night now, and Ling was starting to get truly tired. He considered himself relatively in shape, but this was too much, and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could walk. Thank god he’d rationed his water well enough that he still had some, but if he didn’t find somewhere to rest soon he was gonna collapse. He hadn’t even eaten since he left the car.  He had planned on trying to call for assistance from the nearest town, but that was impossible now even if he did find somewhere with signal, because his phone had died. He had a sinking feeling that he might be in actual trouble soon. After all, if he passed out here, who would find him?  
  
After another two hours of walking, he was just about to give up and lay down in the dirt to sleep when he spotted something on the horizon. A house. Finally. He might have just enough energy to get there before he collapsed. Someone there could help him, and hopefully feed him. Dear god he hoped they would feed him.  
  
By the time he reached the house, he wasn’t sure he could walk another step, and to his dismay the house seemed to be abandoned. It was roped off with what looked like police tape, and there was a real estate sign in the yard. It didn’t look like he’d find any help here. He looked around, trying to see if there was somewhere else he could go. There was a gas station with a convenience store, but it was closed. He could see what looked like the rest of the town in the distance but… there was no way he could walk anymore. He just couldn’t. He stood there for a moment, weighing his options.  
  
He could try for help tomorrow. The gas station would be open and he could get food. For now, he needed a place to sleep. Which meant… breaking into this abandoned house for the night.  
  
It wasn’t exactly his proudest moment, climbing in through an unlocked window and into the house. Reduced to breaking and entering…. his family would cringe if they ever found out. But desperate times called for desperate measures, so they say. He would be out in the morning anyways, no harm done, right? He landed lightly inside the house, looking around. It looked… less abandoned than he’d thought. In fact, it looked like someone was still living here. That would not be good if they found him breaking into their house. Even as tired as he was, he needed to do a quick exploration to try and see if the place was still inhabited or not.  
  
The kitchen was still stocked and the food still looked good, but the dishes that were piled in the sink looked (and smelled) like they were starting to grow mold.  Surely if someone lived here they wouldn’t have left them there. He sighed in relief. _So i’m not going to jail for breaking and entering, probably._ Though…. even if there was no one here now, judging from the rest of the food they must have left very recently. Just to be sure, needed to check the rest of the house. It wasn’t a big place, so there wasn’t much to look at. Just two bedrooms upstairs, one of which seemed to be a storage room for random junk. So it looked like only one person had been living here. A guy, judging by the bedroom, which looked like the paragon of a bachelor pad. Junk everywhere, lighted beer sign as decoration. There were even posters of half naked women on the walls; Ling hadn’t though anyone actually _did_ that. Were those leather pants on the floor? And a fur lined leather vest hanging on the door? He rolled his eyes a little. Classless, as his parents would say. _And that would be an understatement_ , he thought, covering his mouth as he tried not to laugh. He was about to head back to the kitchen to see how much food he could pilfer without it being obvious when something caught his eye. There was a framed picture on the desk, set up neatly on a clear area of the small desk and looking slightly out of place with the mess of the rest of the room. Ling picked it up, curious.  
  
Looking out a him were five people, a group of friends from the look of them, all holding drinks and laughing. In the middle was a man who looked to be in his late twenties, wearing the vest that Ling saw hanging on the door. _That must be the person who lives here,_ he thought.  
  
He was still examining the photo when he got a sudden and violent chill.  
  
He shivered, feeling all of the sudden like he had done something he shouldn’t have, and set the picture down hastily. He looked around, trying to figure out why he suddenly felt so… _strange_. Strange and slightly uneasy. Perhaps it was just a sudden bout of guilt from digging through someone else’s things, he guessed, trying to shake the feeling that something was watching him, judging him.  
  
The feeling got even worse when he turned around to leave, and for a moment he was _sure_ there was someone else there with him. Every sense he had was screaming at him that he wasn't alone. Ling wasn't superstitious but... well, he was beginning to think maybe it was safer not to come near this room again. With one last glance behind him, he retreated back to the kitchen to try and find some food. If he went a littler faster than was really necessary, well, it was just because he was hungry.  
  
He managed to find some protein bars in the pantry, and snagged a couple for himself, quietly swearing that this was the last time he was going to go snooping around this house. He flopped down on the couch with a bar in each hand and scarfed them down quickly. God, he had been so hungry. It was a miracle he’d gotten here without passing out. Surely the person who lived here would forgive him a couple protein bars.  
  
Having found food, Ling felt much better. He laid back on the couch with a yawn. It had been a long day, and it was well past night by now; he needed to get some sleep so he could get up early and find someone to help him get his car running. He needed to be on the road early if he didn’t want to explain to his father were he’d been. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, sleeping on the couch in a stranger’s house, but… he didn’t feel like going in that room again. He couldn’t put his finger on why.  So the couch would have to work.  
  
Ling closed his eyes and let himself fall asleep.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Greed was a dead man.  
  
Not in the sense that he was doomed; he was literally dead. He had been for a couple weeks now. The police had taken his body away to the morgue to be cremated, and his house had been roped off until it could be cleared out and sold, now that he wasn’t alive to use it. Well, he didn’t own it, but he was still _using_ it, in a way. Right now, he was sitting on his couch, idly trying to figure out how to use the remote with incorporeal hands.  
  
Being a ghost sucked.  
  
Death sucked, in general. People always talked about how terrifying it was, how final, but from what Greed could tell it was mostly just _boring_. Hell, being a ghost wasn’t supposed to be this bad, right? Ghosts were supposed to be able to like, haunt people and things, weren’t they? Throw stuff, make people’s lives hell?  That sounded alright. If he could do that,  he’d at least be able to mess with the assholes who ganked him to pass the time. Maybe even get some revenge from beyond the grave or whatever. But no, apparently not. He couldn’t even turn on the damn TV. Or leave the house. God, this _SUCKED!_ He moved to throw the remote against the wall, but of course the remote didn’t move, so he just ended up making a pitching motion at the wall.  
  
Fuckin' _perfect_. Couldn’t even throw a fit properly.  
  
Hell, nothing even _happened_ around here anymore. There had been police at first, looking through his things for ‘clues’ and trying to figure out why he’d been gunned down in a ditch outside of town. They’d found the hidden safe in his basement where he kept his illegal guns, declared his death gang related, and proceeded to stop giving a single fuck what had happened to him. Greed would have been pissed if he’d ever expected anything different. Cops were the worst. At least they had been kinda interesting to watch. After the cops had come the estate agent trying to figure out how soon she could sell his house and for how much. That had pissed him off more; if they sold his house he’d have to put up with some other asshole living here. And they’d get rid of all his stuff! Fuck that noise. It made him really wish he’d made any kind of will, at least maybe his stuff could have gone to… actually, now that he thought of it, there wasn’t anyone left, was there?  He wasn’t going to think about that. Anyways, he’d tried to scare the agent off, but she was either fearless or dense as a rock, because she didn’t seem to notice a thing. Either that or he was just _really_ bad at this ghost thing. He was beginning to suspect that last one was the real reason.  
  
So here he was. The most useless ghost ever, just… sitting here. Sitting on his couch doing jack shit. If he was honest with himself, he was pouting.  
  
He was still pouting a few hours later. (Hey, don’t judge; it wasn’t like he had anything else to do.) It was past dark now, and he was busy really wishing that ghosts could sleep when he heard a noise. His first thought was that the damn estate agent was back before he realized the sound wasn’t coming from the front door. Was that coming from in the house? He floated up off the couch and went to go investigate, and it didn’t take long to figure out what was going on.  
  
There was someone sneaking in his window.  
  
What the fuck?  
  
Man, he should have locked his windows before he kicked the bucket. It figured that someone would try to rob the place once he was gone. But hey, on the bright side, at least something interesting was happening. Man, his life…er, existence was pretty sad if someone breaking into his house was the most entertainment he’d gotten in days.  
  
This kid climbing through the window didn’t look much like a robber though, he had to say. He certainly didn’t have any of the tools a robber would use. But then what was he doing here? Greed would have guessed he was just here to dick around in a dead guy's house like an asshole teenager in a horror movie, but he seemed too unhappy about being here for that. In fact, he looked downright miserable. He was a slim asian guy who looked barely old enough to drink, wearing jeans and a button down with most of the buttons undone. He was sweaty and dusty and panting like he’d just finished a run. Greed had _no idea_ what he was doing here.  
  
The intruder walked further into the house, looking around cautiously as he checked all the rooms. He was obviously trying to walk silently, and Greed has to say he was pretty damn good at it. If he wasn’t standing two feet behind the guy watching him, he probably wouldn’t have heard him at all. It was actually pretty impressive; his floor tended to creak pretty badly. Greed followed him through the rooms, watching him check each one until he finally got to his bedroom. That was just perfect. Exactly what he wanted; some stranger in his personal space looking at all his stuff.  
  
The kid stopped for a moment, looking around the room, taking in the posters and decorations, clothes and personal effects. And then he covered his mouth, shaking slightly.  
  
Was he _laughing!?_ Come on, that was just _rude_. Greed wasn’t going through this guy’s house and laughing at _his_ decorating choices! Though, he supposed if he could do that he might. Whatever, it was still rude. Even though he knew it wouldn't do anything, he wanted to punch him right now. God, he hated this bullshit! He didn't know why this upset him so much, why it seemed so personal for someone he didn't know to be looking at that picture of the body that used to be his before it winded up in a ditch, but it was. He wanted to be done with this. He wanted this guy out of his house. He wanted to be alive again, wanted to undo the shit that had gotten him killed in the first place. He gritted his teeth and took a swing at the kid’s head, venting all the frustration he was feeling and trying to get him to put the picture down.  
  
The intruder shivered visibly, and put the picture down immediately.  
  
Wait…  had he _felt_ that?  
  
Had Greed actually _done something!?_ He didn’t want to get his hopes up, but the guy _had_ set that picture down awful fast, and was now looking around looking somewhat unsettled.  That was a victory, to be sure. Maybe he was getting better at this ghost thing!  
  
He was just standing there congratulating himself and thinking about trying it again when something even more drastic happened. The kid turned around to walk out of the room, and went straight through him.  
  
And for only a moment, they occupied the same space.  
  
It was like touching a live wire. A shock went through him, and just for that moment he could _feel_. He could feel the air against his skin, his heart beating in his chest, his weight holding him to the ground.  
  
He was _ALIVE._  
  
And then the moment was over, and he was back to being dead, standing in the doorway to his room in shock while the guy who’d been in the same spot almost sprinted down the hall.  
  
What in the hell just happened? What the fuck _was_ that? Had he just been in that kid’s _body!?_  
  
More importantly, could he do it again?  
  
If he could do that again, and do it for longer than a second... well, then he could kiss this post-mortem snoozefest goodbye and actually _do_ something with his afterlife. He had so many ideas already of what he could do if he had a body. He had to figure it out. Obviously, it had something to do with them touching, and being in the same place at the same time. Maybe if he could stay like that longer? It would be tricky while he was moving around, but the kid had to sleep eventually. That would be his chance to test it out.  
  
Luckily, he didn't have to wait long. His test subject had already scarfed down two protein bars by the time Greed found him in his living room, and after that it barely took any time at all for him to be fast asleep, sprawled out on the couch. Greed sighed, watching him as he settled himself down onto the arm of the couch. He missed sleeping. He missed sleeping, and eating, and getting laid, and getting drunk. He missed being _alive_. Having this asshole sleeping in his house, rubbing it in his face, was just salt in the wound. Though, he supposed that in all fairness he couldn't exactly blame the kid for sleeping. By the looks of him he had been through a rough day.  
  
_Of course, if this works I'll be making it even worse,_ Greed thought. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt, but he shrugged it off. _That's what he gets for breaking into someone's house,_ he told himself. _Can't blame anyone but himself if something bad happens._  
  
With that thought, he laid down on the couch.  
  
The results were instantaneous. He wasn't as shocked this time since he was expecting it, but the sheer sensory overload of being alive after being dead was still overwhelming. It was great. It was amazing. Why had he ever risked this over stupid shit!? He should have been more careful. He should have... well, he should have done a lot of things differently, but he didn't. He was dead. But dammit, as long as he could hold on to this feeling, even vicariously, he would.  
  
He sat there for a long moment, just enjoying the feeling of breathing again, until he tried to sit up and found himself once again separate from the other's body. He cursed loudly, laying back down. There had to be a way to stay like that for real, to actually control a body and not just be connected to it. He had felt something, for that moment there when he'd tried to move, while they were still connected. Some sort of instinct, or pull, or... something.  
  
He reached for it again, and suddenly knew that he could do it. He could take this body and make it his.  
  
There was a brief moment of resistance, the feeling of something trying to push him out, and Greed wondered if it was the kid, fighting him. But then whatever was pushing back gave out, and Greed sat up, grinning. He looked down at himself, turning his hands over in front of his face, moving his arms and his legs to make sure they worked.  
  
He had a body. An actual, living body. A body he controlled.  
  
_FUCK YES._  
  
He jumped off the couch, and almost immediately fell on his ass thanks to his new legs being shorter than his own. Looked like walking was going to take some getting used to, especially since his new body was lighter, too. It was hard not to put too much force into his stride and overbalance. But hey, at least he _had_ legs. God, it was great to feel gravity again. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed the feeling of muscles straining as they worked.  
  
And now that he had a body, there were plenty of other things he missed that he could reacquaint himself with. He was thinking of making a list. Something like  
  
1\. Food  
2\. Sleep  
3\. Alcohol  
4\. Sex  
5\. Everything else  
  
Four and five he could work on later, for now... food. He wanted food, more than he'd wanted almost anything in his life. And he wanted to get drunk while he was at it. Luckily, while any produce in the house was certainly spoiled, he had plenty of frozen stuff and junk food. And plenty of alcohol. He made his way to the kitchen, his legs getting more stable as he went, and opened his cabinets.  
  
Doritoes, yes. Twinkies, definitely. Ice cream. Vodka. Beer; yeah he was gonna take an entire six pack. Corn dogs. Popcorn.  
  
_Hell._  
  
_Yes._

  
This was gonna be a party.

**Author's Note:**

> Finally, FINALLY attempting to write one of the MANY Greed and Ling centric AUs rattling around in my head. i'm also trying to challenge myself to actually complete a multi-chapter fic. We'll see how it goes! Comments and Kudos will help with my motivation so let me know if you enjoyed this first part!


End file.
